"The most optimistic pension reformers had hoped that the decrepit city of Stockton's 2012 bankruptcy would be a 'day of reckoning' -- a point where the city's leaders would pare back overly generous retirement benefits and embark on a road to fiscal responsibility.... But as often happens with government-reform efforts, the pessimists turned out to be right. Earlier this month, the Stockton City Council approved a plan that restructures debt and fully funds the California Public Employees' Retirement System, thus leaving pension benefits for city employees unscathed."  MORE >>